He brushed a hand across the paper of his journal. He’d done his best to remove the rest of the torn page with a Stanley knife. It was only obvious there was a page missing if one was to really go searching for it. He still didn’t understand how or why that had happened. It was most unlike him, but he’d just have to blame it on being unwell, like so much of what had occurred. It was going to be one of life’s mysteries. One he was going to have to ignore.
George beeping his horn confirmed as much. Locking up, Clive cast one last glance back at his patch of land. His corner of the universe was at least here to keep him going.
47
Keisha
This must be what cheating feels like. I’m sweating from every pore and more nervous than I’ve been for any of the dates I’ve been on.
The usual comfort I gain from being in my usual spot at the café isn’t present today. If anything, it’s making me more fearful. What if Clive stumbles across this moment? He’s at the lab working with Lucy and she knows she needs to keep him there, but what if he says he needs to pop to Tess’s flat for something?
I’m concerning myself unnecessarily. Clive won’t be turning up while this meeting takes place.
The meeting that shouldn’t be possible.
‘Do you think she’s chickened out?’ Tess is pacing and busying herself with more tasks than usual: checking the sauce bottles, refilling the salt cellars, dusting all her precious unicorns.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if she has. I’m not far off chickening out myself.’ I have two fingers on my radial pulse and the rhythm is jumping about in the way I’ve always imagined it will when I fall in love on the spot. This is something different though. It’s what it feels like to be dealing with a love that isn’t mine.
‘Don’t walk out,’ she says. ‘Then I’d have to talk to her and you’re Clive’s friend.’
‘So are you,’ I point out, realising we’re both anxious. George is at work, but it would have been too many people if he was free.
‘You’re right. I’m going to close the café. I don’t want her to arrive and then for me to have to go off and serve customers. We both need to hear Nancy’s story.’
Tess turns the sign to close the café and writes a handwritten note about being shut due to unforeseen circumstances.
‘Won’t that put her off when she arrives?’ Though I’m beginning to think, like Tess has already suggested, that Nancy might not be coming.
‘Maybe. I’ll change it.’ Tess opts for a note that says: CLOSED FOR A PRIVATE FUNCTION FOR NANCY.
Over the past few days I’ve gone over all sorts of scenarios as to why Nancy hasn’t been part of Clive’s life. It is a puzzle with too many missing pieces to make sense of. I’m really hoping the meeting with Nancy will see that picture made whole.
‘Do you want another drink or anything to eat yet? I need a coffee even if I’ve had enough to make me jittery.’
‘Yes, please. Coffee for me too.’
I glance at the door, where light bounces off one of Tess’s glittery unicorns. The effect dances off the wall like a disco ball, as if it is an illustration of all the jitters bouncing around the room.
For a moment, the movement mesmerises me, making me forget for a fraction of a second why we’re here. So when the door does open, I jump. I’m standing without meaning to and I nearly scare Tess enough to drop a mug.
She catches herself at the same time I do and we manage to stop ourselves from screaming at the frail lady entering the café.
‘Thanks for the note. I’ve never had a café open exclusively for me,’ the woman says, breaking our silence.
I gravitate to Nancy, and put out a hand, hoping to make up for our initial shock at her arrival. ‘I’m Keisha. It’s so lovely to meet you.’ I’ve come a long way in a few weeks when it comes to meeting new people. And somehow, I feel like I know Nancy.
She has a sparkling smile. I realise it’s partly down to dentures, but there’s also a warmth that comes with it. It’s not something I normally notice, but she has an aura. A glow that is radiating from her small frame that’s not much over five foot tall. Her white hair is cropped short and